WARRIORS : Path of Darkness Book 1
by herdustisverypretty
Summary: The orginal Clans have died out from a mysterious sickness, and the descendants of the survivors have formed new Clans. The new Clans have forgotton their heritage, but now it is back to haunt them all.
1. Prologue

**WARRIORS: Trail of Darkness** **by Brightfire**

**Book 1 – Mysterious Forthcomings **

Note I do not own anything about warriors, but I came up with all the names below, and if they're similar or the same to other warrior names it's a complete coincidence.

**CLANS** – StarClan, IceClan, RockClan, BirdClan, SwiftClan

**StarClan** – StarClan is the ancient clan of deceased cats. Every time a cat dies, a StarClan warrior the newly dead cat knew greets them, and takes them to join the endless amount of warriors in Silverpelt, the band of bright stars where StarClan rests in the night sky.

**IceClan** – IceClan depend on treading lightly and blending into the background. They live in an icy area that will never thaw. Most of the cats have snow-white pelts, creams, or grey pelts. Rarely there will be an IceClan member who is tortoiseshell or brown. Their prey often consists of fish in the nearby ponds around the icy environment, and occasionally water birds. They are probably the most well fed clan, and also the best hidden.

**RockClan** – RockClan use an interesting form of sneaking up on enemies and prey. They use the things around them to distract what they are stalking, and then unsuspectingly leap out and pounce. RockClan can jump incredible distances, and heights, and have added strength in their hind legs to perform such powerful jumps, and also their front legs, often to push rocks and boulders of the cliff-sides to distract things. RockClan live on a rocky hill that has lots of caves. Their prey consists of mice and rats, occasionally birds, and often bats. Thousands of bats live on one side of the hill, and are often a good source of prey for these agile creatures. They are usually blacks, mottled browns, tortoiseshells, and greys. White pelts are seen though, but not uncommon.

**BirdClan** – BirdClan uses stalking among plants, bushes, and leafy undergrowth in their forest environment to stalk. BirdClan often climb up the shorter trees and jump down on their unsuspecting prey and enemies. The colours of these cats are often browns, reds and gingers, blacks, creams, and tortoiseshells. White cats are uncommon in the dark forest they live in. The prey they stalk is usually always birds or mice. Sometimes they manage to catch a snake if they are talented enough to dodge its bites. Another form of prey is possums. There are large amounts of possums in their territory.

**SwiftClan** – SwiftClan, the fastest but weakest clan. SwiftClan depends on stalking the prey, and once the cat is close enough, or detected, using extremely fast bursts of speed to chase it down, much like a cheetah. SwiftClan cats tend to be shy, and run from fights, considering their small builds are built for running, not fighting, and also because the cats from the other clans are generally much bigger, from more prey. SwiftClan's prey is almost always rabbit. Sometimes an unsuspecting bird, and if they're lucky, a chicken or duck from the Twoleg farm at the edge of their territory. The colours of SwiftClan's pelts are often browns, gingers, and reds. Greys and blacks too, but not as common as the browns and gingers, etc. White cats are extremely uncommon. SwiftClan lives on grassy hills and fields, with only a few trees and shrubs. A warrior not making it to the elder's den is not common, but not uncommon.

ICECLAN

**Leader:** Sparrowstar – grey eyed almost black, muscular tom

**Deputy:** Lightstep – snowy white she-cat with sparkling blue eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Brightwing – white she-cat with medium grey blotches and golden eyes

**{xxx}Apprentice: **Nightpaw

**Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits): **

Darktail – dark grey tom with black tail

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Silverpaw

Frostface – thin cream coloured she-cat with white face and green eyes

Longfur – green-eyed, long-creamy-furred tom

Hollywind – golden coloured she-cat with brown eyes

Tinyfoot – unusually small black tom

Daisyflower – small grey she-cat

Sandpelt – creamy coloured tom with golden tabby stripes

Breezeshade – black tom with golden eyes

**Apprentices (at least 6 moons old, training to become warriors): **

Nightpaw – black she-cat with golden eyes

Silverpaw – long-furred silver tom

**Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits):**

Berrynose – golden she-cat with red-gold face and brown eyes. Mother of Lilykit, Lemonkit, and Bellkit

Whitestream – long-furred white she-cat with grey eyes. Mother of Mistkit, Riverkit, Skykit, and Twistkit

**Elders (warriors and queens now retired): **

Longwhisker – a chubby elderly grey tom with very long whiskers

ROCKCLAN

**Leader: **Spiderstar – black she-cat with long legs and tail

**Deputy: **Greyfur – dark grey tom

**Medicine Cat: **Blackstep – black tom with white left back leg

**Warriors: **

Dangleweb – tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Tigerstripe – tabby she-cat that resembles a tiger

Smalltail – a re-named warrior tom, with a bobtail

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Owlpaw

Sparrowfeather – dark brown tom with blue eyes

Hazelwing – grey coloured she-cat with black flecks

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Leopardpaw

Cloudface – long-furred white tom with grey eyes

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Hawkpaw

Flamepath – striking red flame coloured tom with glowing golden eyes

Cherrystream – small tortoiseshell she-cat

Mudfoot – mottled brown tom with dark brown eyes

**Apprentices: **

Hawkpaw – a black tom with dark grey markings

Owlpaw – tawny grey she-cat with green eyes

Leopardpaw – grey she-cat with leopard-like markings and golden eyes

**Queens: **

Willowcloud – pale grey she-cat with amber eyes. Mother of Pebblekit

Bounceleaf – young pale brown she-cat.

**Elders: **

Poppytail – Long-tailed she-cat, partially blind in one eye

Fernleaf – Dark grey she-cat with very long fur, one green eye, one blue eye

BIRDCLAN

**Leader: **Jaystar – grey she-cat

**Deputy: **Mousepelt – pale brown she-cat with grey eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Brindlesight – grey she-cat with darker grey flecks

**Apprentice:** Spottedpaw

**Warriors:**

Mintfur – black she-cat with grey flecks

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Talonpaw

Brackensage – mottled brown tom

Shadowfrost – black tom with amber eyes

Silverfoot – silver coloured she-cat with blue eyes

Nightleaf – grey she-cat

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Leafpaw

Barkfoot – dark brown tabby tom

Firefur – bright ginger she-cat with brown eyes

Birchtail – small dusky brown tom

Whitewing – white she-cat with ginger stripes and blotches

**Apprentices:**

Talonpaw – golden tabby tom

Leafpaw – small ginger she-cat with grey eyes

Spottedpaw – pale grey she-cat with darker spots and blotches

**Queens: **

Doveflower – pale grey she-cat with green eyes

Dawnspeckle – bright red-ginger she-cat

**Elders: **

Snowpelt – elderly white she-cat, former queen, with green eyes

SWIFTCLAN

**Leader: **Leafstar – creamy-white coloured she-cat

**Deputy: **Runningheart – dark ginger tom with amber eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Specklewing –small golden she-cat with green eyes

**Warriors: **

Littleflower –she-cat with dark grey fur with pale grey patches

Rainshadow – dark grey tom

Echobeam – all black she-cat with dark, almost black, brown eyes

**{xxx}Apprentice: Sandpaw**

Rednose – brown tom with ginger face

**{xxx}Apprentice: Dawnpaw**

Tigerpelt – Tiger striped tabby tom

Hollyfrond – pale golden she-cat with grey eyes

**{xxx}Apprentice:** Tanglepaw

Nightbreeze – dark grey tom with dark, almost black, brown eyes

**Apprentices: **

Sandpaw – golden-brown tom

Tanglepaw – pale brown she-cat with dark brown blotches

Dawnpaw – white she-cat with ginger patches and blue eyes

**Queens: **

Swanwing – white she-cat with blue eyes

Bluewish – blue-grey she-cat with green eyes

Fernbelly – pale grey she-cat

**CATS OUTSIDE CLANS (Rogues, or kittypets) **

Lady – ginger she-cat with brown stripes

Shadow – black tom with white socks

Sandy – golden she-cat with green eyes. Daughter of Lady and Shadow

**Prologue **

_The wind ruffled the fur of_ a dark brown cat. He slipped through the shadows until he met the gaze of a beautiful white she-cat.

"Hello Lightstep," the brown top mewed. The she-cat gave him an icy glare.

"Barkfoot," she spoke through her teeth. The she-cat leapt onto a nearby rock, and sat, eyes closed, in the blowing wind of night. The brown top sat down on the grass where he stood, and waited with the white cat. Soon enough, a meow disturbed the silence, and the tom and she-cat looked up, to see two more tomcats arriving in the small clearing.

"Hello Lightstep, Barkfoot," the dark ginger one meowed. The dark grey tom behind him nodded to the she-cat and brown top. The two new arrivals settled down on the soft grass to listen to what was about to happen.

"Okay, listen up," the white she-cat spoke firmly. "Trouble has hit all our clans hard, and unfortunately our leaders are too stupid to figure out what's wrong."

"We know the situation well, Lightste-" the dark ginger tom began. The she-cat silenced him with a hiss.

"The twolegs are building more and more nests and thunderpaths each day, and we have to act, before the entire forest's prey disappears," the she-cat strolled along the rock she stood upon. Barkfoot, the brown tom, and gazed up at her, and thought how much like a leader she looked. "A newly built thunderpath has been built and is heading for my camp." She looked doubtful as she paused, before continuing. "And soon it will kills us, or drive us out. Then it will probably head for your camp, Greyfur." The grey tom's face went from slightly tired to alarmed.

"But what can we do? The twolegs are stupid and do what they want Lightstep? What can we _do_?" the dark ginger tom protested. Lightstep hesitated.

"I don't know…" she said quietly. "But we have to do something, anything!"

"They won't stay long, Lightstep," a voice sounded from a bush. Lightstep's upset look turned to anger, and then hatred when she saw who stepped out.

"Well, well," Lightstep said. "A kittypet. And how do you know the twolegs won't stay long, hm?"

A golden she-cat had emerged from the bush, and was staring at the white cat before her.

"These twolegs are only here to build something for Greenleaf," she mewed. "They like to fish, just like you, and use it for their own prey. They give us some, back at the nest."

"But, how do you know they're only going to be here Greenleaf? And why do they need thunderpaths to fish? It'll scare the fish away!" Greyfur questioned. "Even clans that _don't_ fish know that!"

"They don't take monsters on these thunderpaths. They aren't too thunderous," the golden kittypet spoke. "They just walk on these ones. They're too small."

"I see," Lightstep mewed. "Well, I suppose that is a little better. But there is a lake on the other side of the nests, why not go there?"

"How do you know that?" the kittypet asked confused. Lightstep's face was pained.

"I…I used to…I used to live there…when I was a…a…a kittypet," she meowed finally.

"What! You, a clan cat, used to be a twoleg-cat?" the golden cat meowed in astonishment.

"Not one of my proudest moments, so keep that to yourself. Don't blab it to your other little, 'twoleg-cat' friends, okay?"

"Sure, sure!" the kittypet mewed, still amazed.

"So, why don't they go to this lake?" the dark ginger tom asked.

'What's your name?" the kittypet questioned him.

"Runningheart," came the reply.

"Well, Runningheart, I don't know. I suppose they want certain types of fish, just as there are certain types of prey in different areas, these two lakes or ponds or whatever must have different prey," the golden cat meowed.

"Why do they care so much about prey types? Can't they just deal with the prey over at the other lake?" Barkfoot mewed. He had been almost silent all evening, choosing now to finally voice his opinions.

"I don't know," the golden she-cat replied. Suddenly, the cats became aware that the clearing was becoming brighter.

"I should get back to my clan before they realise the deputy's gone," Lightstep yawned. She leapt down from the rock. Runningheart, Greyfur, and Barkfoot all rose as well, and stretched their aching bones.

"I should get back to my twolegs," the golden cat meowed.

"You do that," Greyfur meowed sleepily. The four cats trotted off, leaving the golden cat standing in the chilling wind.

Brightwing shot up straight as a bird called. Her eyelids fell over her eyes when she realised the camp wasn't being attacked. She barely made it back to her bedding, before toppling over.

She looked up, wide-awake. She wasn't in the medicine cat den anymore. She was in the middle of the camp. Brightwing looked around to see the other members of her clan, scurrying about looking nervous. She padded slowly across the snowy floor of the camp to the nursery. She poked her head inside, to see only Berrynose in there. Brightwing strained to see her kits.

_There they are! _She thought. _Wait, where's Lilykit? I only see Lemonkit and Bellkit! _

She left the nursery to see herself running across the camp…from the leaders den to her own. But she was over at the nursery. Brightwing bounded as fast as she could to her den. Her apprentice was there, only she was a little bigger. And she saw her other self. And then she realised. This wasn't real. This was in the next Leafbare, only a week or two away. Her apprentice was tending to Lilykit. The kit was bigger.

_Obviously, _she thought. Her paws trembled. Not because of the cold, but for the small helpless, unconscious kit. But then she saw her other self, turn and run outside the den, and she saw him. Her leader was lying on the floor of the medicine cat den, barely breathing. Her heart pounded. She felt as if she had fallen a great height, and just hit the ground. Brightwing called to her leader, but no matter how loud she yowled, no one could hear her. Suddenly her apprentice came over and began to comfort her by pressing into her side, but then Brightwing became aware of a prodding feeling where the young she-cat had been.

* * *

**Hey guys! Just a note, I reuploaded the prologue as it was being annoying and not going in bold, spaces were deleting themselves. Ugh. Such an annoyance. So anyways, I forgot to take the kits that haven't been born at the start out of the allegiances. Ah well. I'm gonna leave them in there now. I know that means that now you get to know the names of Bounceleaf's kits early! And also Doveflower & Dawnspeckle..and probs a few others!!! Lol. Well anyways. Sorry I haven't updated the story in AYEEEGES!!! But lucky for you, I'm writing more!!! I've actually figured out plotlines for 6 books! -gasp- and I've even started planning the second series! Oh! That's right. I'm going to give you more then one series!!! Feel special!!!**

**-N {Brightfire}**


	2. Chapter 1

WARRIORS: Trail of Darkness by Brightfire

**WARRIORS: Trail of Darkness** **by Brightfire**

Book 1 – Mysterious Forthcomings

Note I do not own anything about warriors, but I came up with all the names below, and if they're similar or the same to other warrior names it's a complete coincidence.

**Chapter 1**

_Greyfur lay in the warriors'_ den. He had only just returned from the moonlit meeting. Already cats where stirring, and Swallowstar, the elderly leader was arranging patrols for hunting later on. Luckily, Greyfur had slipped in undetected, but he hadn't slept since the night before. Although it was another week and a half until Leafbare, the cold winds were blowing through the area. Greyfur was glad his mate was still asleep, curled up next to him, her sweet, familiar scent washed over him. But soon enough, Hazelwing rose to her paws, stretched, gave Greyfur a gentle nudge, and then prodded out into the cold. He heard her voice talking to Swallowstar.

"Yes, he does," she meowed. "Are you sure? Yes, I suppose so. Okay, I'll tell Cherrystream to let him know." She headed back into the warriors den, and gently prodded Cherrystream awake. The young she-cat opened an eye, saw her mother and opened the other eye.

"Tell your father that I've taken his place in the hunting patrol," she mewed quietly. Cherrystream nodded, before falling to sleep again. Hazelwing rested her tail on her daughter's shoulder before trotting over to Greyfur, giving him an affectionate lick, then heading off once again. Greyfur slept for an hour, before finally waking. Snow was heavily falling outside, and the fresh-kill pile had been placed under a large leaf, to protect it from freezing. The three apprentices, Hawkpaw, Owlpaw, and Leopardpaw had ventured into the warmer warriors den, and were lying with the younger warriors, Cherrystream, Flamepath, and Mudfoot. Greyfur noticed his daughter lying incredibly close to Flamepath, something he had not noticed before. The younger cats were all mewing quietly to each other, so as not to disturb Greyfur, and the soundly sleeping Tigerstripe. He managed to catch a few words the cats were whispering to each other.

"It's full of all these crystals and the wall is this thin walkwa-" Hawkpaw began to mew.

"Are you completely mouse-brained?" Owlpaw hissed. "How can you expect us to walk that?"

"It's not all that hard! I did it last Greenleaf, and it was super stead-" Hawkpaw began.

"Super steady? _Super steady?_" Mudfoot hissing this time. "Of course it was 'super steady', you walked it in GREENLEAF!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Cherrystream spoke. Greyfur, not understanding a word the young warriors and apprentices were saying, drifted off to sleep again. He dreamt of the meeting. He wondered how things where going in the other clans. If snow was going to soon block them in at their own camp, he wondered how long it would be until IceClan was blocked. Greyfur lived in RockClan, where the dens where on rocky hills, and a slight mountain. He pictured mewling kits in the nursery, elders trapped in their dens, unable to call for the help of younger cats. He also fretted for the wellbeing of the leaders. Although he was a deputy from a rival clan, he still knew the horrible results of Leafbare. And it would soon be time for medicine cats to share dreams with StarClan. Leafbare was indeed a time of great misery. Then he thought of his own leader, and his old mentor even. When Swallowstar was deputy, he had mentored Greyfur. Now the old leader was on his last life, and unlikely to make it through this Leafbare. Every cat feared for their great leader. Greyfur knew he had been sleeping for too long, and he ventured out of the den, after he had woken. He trotted over to the medicine cat den, where Bounceleaf lay. She was delivering her kits; hopefully the kits would make it through Leafbare. He decided it was best to leave Bounceleaf to Blackstep. He walked by the elders' den to make sure they were all okay, when he heard Poppytail mention something about prey, then call out for a warrior. Greyfur, being the closest one, poked his head in.

"Hello, Greyfur, we heard from Cherrystream you were quite tired today," Fernleaf murmured.

"Would you care to fetch us some fresh-kill, Greyfur?" Poppytail asked, is her sweet voice. Poppytail was Greyfur's aunt, and when his mother had died from whitecough, Poppytail always comforted him, until he got Hazelwing, then he got support from both.

"Of course Poppytail," he meowed. He headed towards the fresh-kill pile to see warriors returning with more fresh-kill. He swiped a large bat from the pile and returned to the elders' den, giving the two old she-cats the bat. Greyfur left the elders den and spotted Hazelwing, and bounded over to her.

"What's going on today? Anything need to be done?" he asked her.

"Snow needs to be dug away from the apprentice den, and someone needs to make fresh bedding for the nursery cats," she meowed tiredly. Then she perked up. "Bounceleaf is delivering her kits! They should be born fairly soon!"

"That's great! When I walked by earlier, it sounded like they wouldn't be done for a long time!" Greyfur meowed. He noticed Hazelwing's tired expression. "Go and sleep in the warriors den for a while, you've done more then enough for today, I'll take care of the rest."

"Thank StarClan! I thought this day would never end!" she meowed thankfully. She nuzzled Greyfur, then headed down the small slope to the warriors den.

Brindlesight was busily sorting her herb supplies in preparation for Leafbare. Her apprentice, Spottedpaw grabbed some old borage from the shelves and asked, "Should I get rid of these, Brindlesight?"

"Yes, we have some fresher stock of it," the grey she-cat replied. Spottedpaw picked the borage up again and carried it outside. Snow had begun to fall, only lightly, but there was already a soft blanket on the ground. Within 3 days, she would have to go to the MoonTree. She was worried of what this Leafbare would bring, considering it rarely snowed heavily, and the snow was still falling. Brindlesight suddenly felt tired, when she realised she had been tending to Snowpelt, the white she-cat elder, and her daughter, Doveflower's, kits, Rosekit and Sagekit all day. And Dawnspeckle was due in another moon. She settled down on her nest and drifted into a deep sleep. Then Brindlesight was in the centre of the MoonTree Cave. She saw her old mentor, who had died from a horrible case of whitecough. Blueflight, the beautiful, blue-furred she-cat was standing before her.

"Bluenight! I haven't seen you since the moon you died!" Brindlesight squeaked.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I haven't come to you sooner," Blueflight spoke softly. "There is something that all of StarClan wish to send you." Brindlesight became all of a sudden very worried.

"Oh no! Is it something about Leafbare?" she asked.

"I cannot reveal too much, all I can say is that great trouble lies ahead for each clan, and there a terrible secrets lurking in the shadows of the forest," her mentor explained, her face very grave, as if she was deeply upset by the news she was sharing.

"But, what does that mean? Trouble ahead? And lurking secrets?" Brindlesight yowled. But Blueflight was fading. "Wait! When is this going to happen?" she called, but her mentor was gone.

Brindlesight woke. She jumped to her feet, and knew what she had to do.

_I _have _to go to the MoonTree, _she thought. _And soon._ Brindlesight looked beside her, and noticed the apprentice curled up on the cold floor, looking completely worn out. Then she noticed that Barkfoot, the brown deputy, had padded into the medicine cat den.

"Doveflower says Rosekit and Sagekit are coughing again," he meowed.

"Okay," Brindlesight mewed. "Can you tell her that I'll be right over?"

"Sure thing, Brindlesight." Barkfoot turned and left the den. Brindlesight turned to her supplies shelves, and pulled out some catmint, then left for the nursery. When she arrived, the two fluffy kittens were snuggled up to their mother, coughing and sniffing.

"Here," she said, gently pressing the catmint into the kit's mouths. "Get them to eat this. They'll be better soon. They only have kittencough."

The kits squeaked as Doveflower and Brindlesight fed them the catmint, and then coughed a bit, before falling to sleep next to their mother. Doveflower, who had been watching them all day, fell asleep soon after. Barkfoot squeezed through the nursery entrance and curled up beside Doveflower. She raised her head, gave her mate a lick, and then fell to sleep again. Brindlesight left the nursery and headed towards her den, when she noticed Spottedpaw was up, and was fetching a mouse from the fresh-kill pile. Her eyes brightened when she saw her mentor, and bounded over to Brindlesight. Spottedpaw dropped the mouse and spoke.

"Hey Brindlesight! I was getting you a mouse," she mewed. "You haven't eaten all day!" Brindlesight became suddenly aware of the empty feeling in her growling stomach.

"Thanks!" she looked gratefully at the apprentice. The young cat was learning fast, and would probably become a full medicine cat in two or three more moons. Brindlesight picked up the mouse, and she and Spottedpaw returned to the medicine cat den.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

The SwiftClan deputy sat quietly by the entrance of the camp, guarding it from any intruders. A few fox-lengths away a fellow warrior friend of his, Rednose, was also guarding. The camp had grown slightly brighter, and the leader, Leafstar, had emerged from his den, along with her mate, Rainshadow. Though Leafstar hadn't been a leader for long, she was still one of the older warriors, and had had two kits, though one had died soon after birth in Leafbare. The leader leapt from her den's entrance to the ground below, and trotted over to where the two guards were sitting.

"Nothing?" she asked.

"Right," Rednose said. "Runningheart and I didn't see or hear a thing tonight."

"Excellent!" the cream-coloured she-cat mewed happily. "Okay, Rainshadow, you take over Runningheart's position."

"Sure thing, Leafstar," the leader's mate meowed in reply.

"Runningheart, you go find someone to take over Rednose's position, then meet me by the fresh-kill pile," Leafstar began to head towards the pile after touching noses with Rainshadow. Runningheart stood up, stretched, then walked over towards the warriors den. Inside he saw most of the warriors asleep, except for Nightbreeze, who was probably in the nursery with his mate. He nosed his way through and gently prodded Tigerpelt, a striped tom. He sniffed, then opened his eyes.

"Runningheart? Is it time for dawn patrols?" he stifled a yawn.

"Yeah, can you take over Rednose's position of guarding?"

"Sure can! I'm glad to be finally moving," the tom mewed, sitting up and smoothing out his ruffled fur.

"Great!" Runningheart meowed. Tigerpelt leapt up and bounded out of the den. Runningheart followed him outside, and then headed for the fresh-kill pile.

"Okay, now there's guards, who shall go on the dawn patrol this morning?" Leafstar asked when he approached her.

"I was thinking that maybe Hollyfrond, Echobeam, Sandpaw, and Tanglepaw," the tom replied.

"Great, I'll fetch the warriors, you go tell the apprentices," Leafstar mewed. She then trotted off to the warrior's den. Runningheart gladly left the centre of camp to get into the warmer apprentice den. He knew he'd be stuck waking up the grumpy apprentices, as Leafstar would most certainly want to check on Echobeam, her eldest kit. As Runningheart entered the apprentice den, he noticed the apprentices were surprisingly up already, and were sharing tongues with each other.

"What are you three doing up so early? All apprentices hate waking up early in Leafbare," the deputy meowed.

"Well," Tanglepaw began. "It's just so cold, with the wind blowing towards us this morning, so we woke up early."

"It's kind of annoying, I like resting, it's good for us," Dawnpaw mewed. "It gives us lot's of energy so we can beat all you big, tough older cats in battle!"

"Exactly!" Sandpaw chimed in.

"All right, you three," Runningheart purred. "I was coming to say to Tanglepaw and Sandpaw if they were coming on patrol this morning, but would you like to join them, Dawnpaw?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" the young she-cat squeaked. She'd been on patrol once, and had loved it, making it obvious she was going to leap at the chance to go this morning.

"Okay, Echobeam and Hollyfrond should be by the fresh-kill pile."

"Runningheart?" Tanglepaw questioned. "Are you going on patrol too?"

"Of course! What kind of deputy would I be if I didn't?" Runningheart flicked his tail playfully at the apprentices. Still being the young cats they were, they jumped for the moving tail, but missed when Sandpaw slipped, toppling Tanglepaw and Dawnpaw over. The three cats mewed happily as they left the den, racing to beat each other to the centre of the camp. Runningheart padded after them to see Leafstar talking to Echobeam. The leader then left and headed to her own den. Runningheart meowed the instructions of what they were going to do to the cats he was taking on patrol, before leading them out into the frozen morning.

Finally the day to go to MoonTree had arrived. Brightwing had fretted for what felt like moons over her leader, and the tiny kit, Lilykit. Brightwing noticed Lightstep grab a small fish from the fresh-kill pile. Brightwing looked at her and saw her as leader, which was something she didn't like, especially now she'd seen the dream in Leafbare, when Sparrowstar was dying. She returned deeper into her den to find Nightpaw, sitting on the floor of the cave.

"What's with you?" the medicine cat asked, noticing her apprentice shake. "You've been to MoonTree before!"

"I know, but still, I'm nervous!" Nightpaw mewed shakily. "What if StarClan have decided I shouldn't be a medicine cat anymore?!"

"They won't change their minds," the black cat's mentor spoke. "You'll be fine!" Nightpaw wasn't convinced, but still she rose. She looked up at Brightwing with round eyes.

"I'm ready," she mewed trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Okay, let's go then." The two cats trekked out of the camp past the guards, and began to head around the mountain face. IceClan had a special route to the MoonTree Cave. They would leap rock by rock to a ledge on the mountain, then carefully trot along, until it sloped down, to the entrance of the cave. That way they had less chance of something attacking them on their way to the cave, and they could see everything from up high. Brightwing and Nightpaw arrived at the cave entrance after what felt to the slightly grumpy apprentice, moons. As they entered the cave, Brightwing noticed that Brindlesight, Spottedpaw, and Blackstep had arrived. All that was left was Specklesong.

"Greetings Blackstep, Brindlesight, Spottedpaw," Brightwing shivered as she looked at each cat. They mewed hellos.

"Why is it so cold?" Spottedpaw complained to Nightpaw. "It's never been this cold. Brindlesight said so!"

"I don't know, but I'm freezing!" Nightpaw shivered herself. Soon Specklesong arrived. She was covered with snow and ice, and looked near dead. She shivered, unable to speak. Blackstep hurried over and pressed his side against his friend, trying to warm the golden cat. Brightwing joined him. Within a minute, the SwiftClan cat could speak.

"Leafbare is horrible for us," she mewed bitterly. "The Leafstar has decided to relocate the clan until it has passed." Gasps sounded from the medicine cats and apprentices.

"Relocate?" Blackstep questioned.

"Yes."

"I didn't think Leafbare could be this cruel," the tom meowed. "Where will you go?"

"The clan won't survive until the next gathering, and a kit has nearly died. I almost didn't come here. We'll probably move to the gathering area."

"The gathering cave? Here?" Brindlesight mewed in shock.

The gathering cave was a large, roomy cave, where a sort of tunnel led to the MoonTree cave.

"Well, you must move here if it's the only place to go," Spottedpaw squeaked. She was deeply upset. Recently she had become friends with a SwiftClan apprentice. "Specklesong, is Dawnpaw okay?"

"Dawnpaw? Well, she's a little sick, but I think she'll live if she moves," came the reply. Spottedpaw's face was flooded with relief.

"We must go to the MoonTree before it's too late," Brightwing turned and headed for the tunnel. The other cats followed. The MoonTree cave was the most beautiful place in the whole area. Small cracks in the rock allowed moonlight to shine in on the tree. The cave was covered with grass, where a single leafy tree grew. There where puddles all around it. A small opening in the tree big enough for a cat to squeeze through was where they dreamt. Brightwing slipped through the entrance to the tree, and felt slightly better. Inside the hollow tree, the moonlight was tinged green, and everything echoed, making it Brightwing's favourite place. She lay down; made sure Nightpaw was beside her, then touched the bark with her nose. Suddenly she was in her camp. Sparrowstar was there, giving orders to cats. Then the cats dissolved away, and it was a different setting. It was New-Leaf, and Lightstep was giving out orders. Then she was in BirdClan. It was the same. Their leader, Jaystar, was telling warriors what to do, before it dissolved, and then Barkfoot was giving orders. She noticed a golden cat beside him. It was defiantly an apprentice, but she knew that Barkfoot didn't have one. Brightwing warped to SwiftClan. Leafstar was there. She nuzzled her mate, then leapt down from her den and started organising new guards. When they dissolved, her mate was nowhere to be seen, and it was Runningheart who was doing everything. Brightwing was horrified, as she warped to the last camp. Spiderstar was rebuilding the barrier, and some warriors were helping her. But when they dissolved Greyfur was the one rebuilding. Then Brightwing was in her own camp, and she saw herself, Lightstep, and Nightpaw huddled around Lilykit.

_No! _She thought. _Not Lilykit! _

She heard her other-self mumble, "_There's nothing that we can do…_"

And then she heard an eerie voice.

There are four, who are destined for a path with dimmed light, and there are those who will follow, to fully eliminate the light…

Brightwing shot up. All the other cats were awake now. "That was horrible."

"You had the same dream?" Brindlesight questioned. Her face had been fine, but now it showed what she really felt-fear.

"I did too!" Blackstep meowed, his face pained.

"I had that dream as well, with the cats…" Specklesong struggled to find the right word. "Disappearing. What about you two?" she looked at Spottedpaw and Nightpaw.

"We had it too, but it wasn't _too_ scary!" Nightpaw boasted, trying to sound as if she wasn't frightened easily.

"Does it mean something will change our clans this Leaf-Bare?" Spottedpaw asked.

"I-I think so," Brindlesight replied. "Well, I better take Spottedpaw back to the camp."

"Of course," Blackstep mewed. "We'll see you at the next gathering?"

"Yes, I hope so," Brindlesight barely spoke. With that Brindlesight touched noses with the medicine cats, and left. Spottedpaw touched noses with Nightpaw, before following her mentor.

"Come on, Nightpaw," Brightwing mewed. "We have to collect a few herbs."

"Okay, bye Specklesong! Bye Blackstep!" the young cat mewed. She turned and bounded up the tunnel, into the gathering cave.


End file.
